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EP-4736405-A1 - METHOD FOR ORIENTING CONTENT ON AN AUTOSTEREOSCOPIC DISPLAY DEVICE

EP4736405A1EP 4736405 A1EP4736405 A1EP 4736405A1EP-4736405-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for orienting stereoscopic content on an autostereoscopic display device, displayed to one or more viewers. In the method of the invention, at a certain moment during the displaying of the stereoscopic content, an instruction is received by the autostereoscopic display device to modify a displaying orientation of the content on the screen by a certain amount of rotation. When a standard content rotation would then performed for the autostereoscopic display device, in a way analogous to content rotation on a monoscopic display device, then a viewer will not experience a correct three-dimensional content. The invention solves this problem by taking account of the rotation already at the stage of weaving the stereoscopic content for the autostereoscopic display screen. An additional issue may arise when there is a rotation of the viewer relative to the autostereoscopic display device to such an extent that the viewer experiences an inverted depth. The invention provides a solution to this by swapping the images of a stereoscopic pair.

Inventors

  • CAARLS, Jurjen
  • PEETERS, PATRICK GODEFRIDUS JACOBUS MARIA
  • DE JONG, PIETER WILHELMUS THEODORUS

Assignees

  • Dimenco Holding B.V.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240626

Claims (18)

  1. 1 . Method for orienting content on an autostereoscopic display device to display a first content and a second content to one or more viewers, comprising the steps of - providing an autostereoscopic display device comprising o an autostereoscopic display screen comprising an array of display pixel elements for producing a display output and a view-forming arrangement that is associated with the array, capable of directing the display output from different display pixel elements to different spatial positions within a field of view of the autostereoscopic display device to allow a display of a first content and a second content; o a weaver configured to receive content data representing the first content and the second content and to weave the first content and the second content for the autostereoscopic display screen; - simultaneously displaying the first content and the second content to the one or more viewers of the autostereoscopic display device, the displayed first and second content having an initial displaying orientation on the autostereoscopic display screen, wherein the displaying of the first content and the second content comprises o receiving content data by the weaver representing the first content and the second content; then o weaving the first content and the second content for the autostereoscopic display screen by determining for each display pixel element in the array whether it provides display output for the first content or for the second content, the array having an initial array orientation as seen from the weaver’s point of view; then o controlling the display pixel elements accordingly, to display the first content and the second content with the initial displaying orientation on the autostereoscopic display screen; - wherein, at a certain moment during the displaying of the first and the second content, an instruction is received by the autostereoscopic display device to modify a displaying orientation of the first content and the second content on the autostereoscopic display screen by a known amount of rotation with respect to the initial displaying orientation so that, after execution of the instruction, the displayed first and second content have a modified displaying orientation on the autostereoscopic display screen; wherein, after receipt of the instruction, - the weaving for the autostereoscopic display screen is performed with a modified array orientation as seen from the weaver’s point of view, which concerns an array orientation that is modified with respect to the initial array orientation by an amount of rotation that is equal to the known amount of rotation according to the received instruction; - the received instruction to modify the displaying orientation of the first and the second content on the autostereoscopic display screen by a known amount of rotation is executed.
  2. 2. Method according to claim 1 , wherein the known amount of rotation is between 0° and 360°, in particular it is selected from the group of 90°, 180° and 270°.
  3. 3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the autostereoscopic display device further comprises - an eye tracking system for determining a position of the eyes of the one or more viewers relative to the autostereoscopic display device; and/or - a head tracking system for determining a position of a head or a head feature of the one or more viewers, representing a position of the eyes of each of the one or more viewers relative to the autostereoscopic display device.
  4. 4. Method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the instruction to the autostereoscopic display device is an instruction given by a user of the autostereoscopic display device via a user interface, for example via a keyboard shortcut, a mouse, a graphical user inface, a device capable of gesture recognition or a device capable of speech recognition.
  5. 5. Method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the instruction to the autostereoscopic display device is an instruction given by a component of the autostereoscopic display device or by a further device, configured to use a measured or inferred orientation of the autostereoscopic display device relative to the ground or relative to a viewer of the autostereoscopic display device for deciding to give the instruction.
  6. 6. Method according to claim 5, wherein the component or the further device is configured to compare the measured or inferred orientation of the autostereoscopic display device relative to the ground or relative to a viewer of the autostereoscopic display device with a pre-set value for the orientation of the autostereoscopic display device relative to the ground or a viewer of the autostereoscopic display device, respectively, and to decide on giving the instruction based on the comparison made.
  7. 7. Method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the measured or inferred orientation is obtained by a measuring instrument selected from the group of gyroscopes, magnetometers, accelerometers, gravimeters and inclinometers.
  8. 8. Method according to any one of claims 1-7, wherein the view-forming arrangement comprises a lenticular lens, a parallax barrier or an arrangement that is based on the principle of directional backlight.
  9. 9. Method according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein the first and the second content include, independently of one another, videos, pictures, still images, motion pictures, graphical user interfaces, graphical objects, animations, television broadcasts, live feeds, or any other content that is broadcast over the internet or other networks or that is stored on a storage medium for playback.
  10. 10. Method according to claim 9, wherein the first and the second content are a left eye content intended for viewing by a left eye of a viewer and a right eye content intended for viewing by a right eye of a viewer, which together form a stereoscopic pair of a stereoscopic content that is to be viewed by a single viewer.
  11. 11 . Method according to claim 10, wherein it is checked whether there is a rotation of the autostereoscopic display screen relative to the viewer to an extent that has the effect that left eye content is directed at a right eye of the viewer and that right eye content is directed at a left eye of the viewer to thereby cause that an inversion of depth is perceived by the viewer if not corrected for.
  12. 12. Method according to claim 1 1 , wherein, in the event that a rotation is observed that would cause an inversion of depth for the viewer, the left eye content and the right eye content are swapped so that left eye content is again directed at a left eye of the viewer and that right eye content is again directed at a right eye of the viewer.
  13. 13. Method according to any one of claims 1-12, wherein, after receipt of the instruction, the weaver receives modified content data, representing modified first content and modified second content.
  14. 14. Method according to claim 13, wherein the modified first content and the modified second content are modified in that their aspect ratios are modified so as to correspond to an aspect ratio of the array of display pixel elements.
  15. 15. Method according to claim 14, wherein the aspect ratios are modified by one or more actions selected from the group of - removing one or more areas from the first content and the second content; - resizing one or more areas of the first content and the second content; - adding one or more areas to the first content and the second content.
  16. 16. Autostereoscopic display device configured to display a first content and a second content to one or more viewers, the autostereoscopic display device comprising - an autostereoscopic display screen comprising an array of display pixel elements for producing a display output and a view-forming arrangement that is associated with the array, capable of directing the display output from different display pixel elements to different spatial positions within a field of view of the autostereoscopic display device to allow a display of a first content and a second content; - a weaver configured to receive content data representing the first content and the second content and to weave the first content and the second content for the autostereoscopic display screen; - a processor and a memory, wherein the memory comprises computerexecutable code that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-15.
  17. 17. A computer readable medium comprising transitory or non-transitory data representing instructions to cause a processor system to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-15.
  18. 18. Software arranged to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-15 when executed on a computer.

Description

METHOD FOR ORIENTING CONTENT ON AN AUTOSTEREOSCOPIC DISPLAY DEVICE FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a method for orienting content on an autostereoscopic display device and to a computer readable medium and software for performing such method. The invention further relates to an autostereoscopic display device. BACKGROUND Autostereoscopic displays play an increasingly important role in virtual reality and augmented reality applications. One of their most outstanding features is that they allow a viewer to perceive three-dimensional content without a dedicated eyewear device, also when the viewer moves relative to the display. Key to this technology is the presence of a screen that comprises a lenticular lens or a parallax barrier placed in front of an array of pixels. Due to the lenticular lens or parallax barrier, light emitted by the pixels can be directed to particular spatial directions, which allows selective illumination of only one eye of a pair of eyes. By accurately controlling the pixels individually, possibly with the aid of real-time obtained eye position data, the screen can direct simultaneously a left eye content to a left eye of the viewer and a right eye content to a right eye of the viewer. The resulting stereoscopic content provides a depth perception to the viewer wherein elements in the content may appear in front of the display or behind the display. For each given viewer position relative to the screen, there are alternating columns or bands of pixels that illuminate either a right eye or a left eye. The left eye content and the right eye content therefore need to be divided into columns that are to be assigned to the alternating pixel columns. The process to arrive at this kind of interlacing is called weaving. The device that performs the weaving is called a weaver. During use of displays in general (monoscopic or autostereoscopic), there may be occasions where displayed content is rotated on the screen. For example when a viewer gives an instruction to the autostereoscopic display to do so, e.g. when he wants to view the content in a rotated fashion. In another instance, the autostereoscopic display may perform the rotation of displayed content automatically upon rotation of the screen itself around its optical axis, relative to the viewer. Such automatic content rotation is then allowed by a feature commonly known as ‘auto-rotate’. Especially mobile devices have this feature, since these devices are during use often subject to rotation relative to the user or viewer. Such rotation is then compensated for by counter-rotating the screen contents, so that the viewer does effectively not experience a content rotation. The rotation of content on monoscopic devices, such as common mobile phones and television screens, is quite straightforward as all pixels can easily be given the same, new instruction, based on the original content that is to be displayed. This is however not the case for autostereoscopic displays that operate with a lenticular lens, a parallax barrier, or any other means for forming a plurality of views where light output for each pixel is modified so that it can only be seen from one or more specific directions or angles. With such autostereoscopic displays, the viewer will not experience a correct three-dimensional content when a standard content rotation is performed. Another problem associated with rotation of an autostereoscopic display is that a viewer may perceive an inverted depth. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method to correctly display a content (e.g. a stereoscopic image or a stereoscopic video) on an autostereoscopic display device when the content is to be rotated on the screen of the device. It is in particular an object of the invention to provide a method for the (automatic) rotation of displayed content on the screen of an autostereoscopic display. It is also an object that with a method of the invention the correct displayed depth is maintained when an autostereoscopic display is rotated in front of the viewer around its optical axis. It is also an object to provide an autostereoscopic display device that is capable of rotating displayed content. It is in particular an object that such device does not suffer from displaying a stereoscopic content with an inverted depth. It has now been found that one or more of these objects can be reached by performing a method for orienting content on an autostereoscopic display device to display a first content and a second content to one or more viewers, comprising the steps of - providing an autostereoscopic display device comprising o an autostereoscopic display screen comprising an array of display pixel elements for producing a display output and a view-forming arrangement that is provided over the array, capable of directing the display output from different display pixel elements to different spatial positions within a field of v